FINALLY!

Our little boy is back to us! And so are all our belongings! Living with virtually zero possessions for 20 days really puts what a person actually "needs" into perspective. We cooked all our meals with one utensil. A pancake flipper. It is now dubbed, "the multi-tool". I have about 30 utensils now, and I will likely use very few of them. I know now that if and when we come back, or next time we move in general, what I think is an everyday necessity, is really an everyday convenience. And when we moved, I felt like we got rid of so much. Now I can see that I was mistaken. I mean, I'm happy to have more than one utensil, among other things, but it's definitely a new realization about what is and what is not, necessity.

We've had a great visit with my mom. It's been so nice to show someone the cool things you've already learned, and help you bring a butt load of groceries home in a car...I think it was better for the transition for Ezra too: he spent two weeks with her, and then when he got here, she was still with him.

Ezra is seriously not only the most adaptable baby on the planet, but I'm fairly certain the most adaptable human being. What a huge trauma for him to go through, and in the end- he comes out shining. First, we packed up everything he was familiar with and said goodbye to loved ones in Saskatoon, then we drove to Grandma's with a bad cough, then Mommy and Daddy went on a plane far away, then he played with Grandma, cousin Seth, Aunty Ally, Uncle Jonnie, Aunty Kaylyn, Great Papa, Great Grandma, then Grandma and Seth left, then Great Papa and Great Grandma left, then Grandma came back, he got a bad fever, then he went on a plane with Grandma and said goodbye to everyone in Camrose. THEN he met Mommy and Daddy at the airport, we had a bit of a holiday with Grandma, whilst living with one small bag of toys and hardly any other possessions, then movers came and brought all those familiar things with them, now Grandma is gone and he's getting a new crib tomorrow.

WOW. And he's 18 months. Poor little guy. He's done zero complaining. Zero role confusion. FULL adaptation to new time zone. Easy napping whenever and wherever. I can hardly believe it. Such a well rounded young man.

In the last two weeks, Ezra has learned so many new things it is remarkable. He knows the difference between hot and cold. He's learning about who's a boy and who's a girl. He has about 3 new words a day, and says them clearly. He plays pretend: pretend drinking from a cup (with an "ahh" afterwards), pretend sleeping, and he has pretend conversations with his toys. He also knows the difference between when he needs a clean diaper and when he doesn't- if I say "is it time for a diaper change?", if he needs one, he'll go to the spot where we change him, and if he is dry, he will say, "No", and sure enough, he doesn't. Such a smarty pants.

And just because, a picture of Ezra's very first ice cream cone, at Mahone Bay, NS.